14 February 2008
New York, NY – February 14, 2008 – Tonight, on the evening of Valentine’s Day, over $40 million was raised to fight AIDS in Africa in an historic auction -- the most significant charity auction of Contemporary Art ever -- organized by Bono, Damien Hirst, Sotheby’s, Gagosian Gallery and dozens of donating artists in the (RED)™ Auction. The proceeds will go the United Nations Foundation to support HIV/AIDS relief programs in Africa conducted by The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Bono opened the auction with an a capella rendition of “All You Need Is Love” before a star-studded crowd, including Queen Noor, John McEnroe, Takashi Murakami, Martha Stewart, Dennis Hopper, Michael Stipe, Helena Christensen, Liya Kebede, Russell Simmons, Brian Williams, Ziyi Zhang, Ed Burns and Christy Turlington, who purchased Francesco Clemente’s Red Flower on Scorched Earth for $170,500 (lot 61, est. $50/70,000*). The auction achieved $42.58 million, far beyond its high estimate (est. $21/29 million), and records were set for seventeen artists, including Marc Quinn, Banksy, Howard Hodgkin, Keith Tyson and Bernar Venet. Among the many highlights of the evening was Damien Hirst’s Where There’s A Will, There’s A Way, a pill cabinet which is filled with HIV antiretroviral drugs for the treatment of HIV, which sold for $7,150,000 (lot 54, est. $5/7 million). The sale had been preceded by a preview exhibition of the works at Gagosian Gallery in Chelsea.
Damien Hirst contacted dozens of the world’s leading artists to ask them to contribute works for the auction inspired by the colour red and the concept of love. Their response was exceptional, with offers of major works Matthew Barney, Georg Baselitz, Cecily Brown, Douglas Gordon, Antony Gormley, Subodh Gupta, Andreas Gursky, Sir Howard Hodgkin, Gary Hume, Jasper Johns, Anish Kapoor, Anselm Kiefer, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami, Marc Newson, Tim Noble & Sue Webster, Richard Prince, Marc Quinn, Ed Ruscha, Yinka Shonibare, Sam Taylor-Wood, Keith Tyson and Bernar Venet, among others.
Damien Hirst himself contributed seven works to the auction, which together made a spectacular total of $19,085,000. In addition to There’s A Will, There’s A Way, the highlights were a red rectangular butterfly painting entitled Love You, which sold for $3,300,000 (lot 53, est. $1/1.5 million) and a red heart-shaped butterfly painting entitled All You Need is Love, which brought $2,420,000 (lot 16, est. $1/1.5 million).
"This is incredible! Art and love, sex and money came together tonight to make this Valentine's Day one that we at (RED) will never forget,” said Bono. “Because tonight we got serious about love, and not just the love of art, but the love of our brothers and sisters suffering from AIDS in the poorest places on the planet. What's the price of saving a life? Forty cents a day can buy the two little pills that keep people with HIV/AIDS alive. So you do the math ... A $100,000 sculpture... a $1.5 million painting... that's a lot of medicine for a lot of people in Africa who can't afford the drugs we can get at any Duane Reade. Damien Hirst had the vision to turn pills into art and now that art will be turned into actual medicine for millions of people.”
Damien Hirst said: “It’s an amazing result, it’s not sunk in yet but it just shows you what you can do if you put your mind to it. I'm never going to be cynical ever again for a while. A big thank you and a million out of ten for all the artists who gave something. We've helped to change the world a little bit.”
Dr. Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, said: “What is particularly exciting about tonight is that in addition to being a major art event, every dollar generated will help the Global Fund purchase life-saving AIDS treatment in sub-Saharan Africa. On behalf of the Global Fund and the people we serve, thank you to everyone here tonight – (RED), Damien Hirst and all of the artists who contributed, Sotheby’s, and all the buyers.”
Oliver Barker, Sotheby’s Senior Specialist of Contemporary Art in London, said: “We’re absolutely
delighted with the phenomenal total of over $40 million that was raised tonight for AIDS in Africa. It was an extraordinary evening.” Cheyenne Westphal, Sotheby’s Chairman of Contemporary Art for Europe, continued: “The real stars of tonight are the artists who so generously gave their works to benefit this worthy cause.”
Larry Gagosian of Gagosian Gallery added: “The results speak for themselves. If you put together
great artists who have created highly desirable works for a worthy cause, success will inevitably
follow. I commend Damien, Bono and all the artists on this incredible achievement.”
Selected highlights in the sale
About Contemporary Art at Sotheby’s:
2007 was a hugely successful year for Contemporary Art at Sotheby’s. Sotheby’s evening sale of
Contemporary Art in New York in November brought $315,907,000, the highest sale total ever in the Company’s 263-year history. Sotheby’s set a new record for a Contemporary work of art sold at auction in May, when Mark Rothko’s White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose) sold in New York for $72.8 million, and twice broke the record for a work by a living artist, first when Damien Hirst’s pill cabinet Lullaby Spring was sold in London in June for £9.6 ($19.2) million, and then when Jeff Koons’ dazzling Hanging Heart brought $23.6 million in New York in November. Both artists have generously donated their works to The (RED) Auction.
Sotheby’s has previously sold Contemporary works benefiting charities, including its June evening sale of Contemporary Art in London, which saw a group of five lots donated by British Contemporary artists, including Hirst, Tracey Emin, Keith Tyson, Antony Gormley and Grayson Perry, raise a total of £1.5 million for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Children (NSPCC).
About Gagosian Gallery:
Opened in 1979 in New York by Larry Gagosian, Gagosian Gallery is considered to be one of the
foremost modern and contemporary art galleries in the world. Gagosian Gallery has seven locations worldwide, including three in New York, one in Beverly Hills, two in London and a new gallery in Rome, all designed by renowned architects including Richard Gluckman (New York), Richard Meier (Beverly Hills), and Caruso St John (London and Rome). Gagosian Gallery has organised important exhibitions and represents many leading international artists and Estates including Georg Baselitz, Jean Michel Basquiat, Joseph Beuys, Cecily Brown, Glenn Brown, Francesco Clemente, Walter De Maria, Alberto Giacometti, Douglas Gordon, Marc Grotjahn, Richard Hamilton, Damien Hirst, Howard Hodgkin, Mike Kelley, Anselm Kiefer, Willem de Kooning, Jeff Koons, Roy Lichtenstein, Mario Merz, Pino Pascali, Pablo Picasso, Richard Prince, Anselm Reyle, Ed Ruscha, Jenny Saville, Richard Serra, David Smith, Philip Taaffe, Robert Therrien, Cy Twombly, Piotr Uklanski, Francesco Vezzoli, Andy Warhol, Franz West, Rachel Whiteread and Christopher Wool.
About The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria:
The Global Fund, the recipient of (RED) funds, has become, since its creation in 2002, the world’s dominant financer of programs to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, providing well over 20 percent of all international finance against AIDS and two-thirds of global financing for TB and malaria. The Global Fund directs (RED) dollars to specific AIDS programs in Africa with a focus on women and children. The Global Fund is a performance-based funder, continuing to fund only programs whose results and expenditures meet ongoing verification by financial auditors. 100% of the (RED) money is put to work on the ground in these grants. Global Fund-(RED) grants are among the best performing programs within the Global Fund’s extensive portfolio of AIDS grants in Africa, thus ensuring that every dollar raised is effectively translated into lives saved, and that every life thus saved is accounted for. As with all Global Fund grants, performance and financial accountability in these grants are continuously verified, so that Global Fund-funded programs receive funding only when expenditures and results have been approved by financial auditors who work with the grants incountry.
The Global Fund is a unique, global public-private partnership governed by representatives of
governments, the private sector, civil society and affected communities from all over the world,
representing a new, performance-based approach to international health financing. The Global Fund enables countries to design and execute their own programs, but provides funds only on the basis of technical feasibility, performance and proven results. It is a lean institution with operating costs of 3%, (this is not applicable to (RED) funds) ensuring that resources go directly to where they are needed most. The Global Fund continues to seek sustainable, additional resources from all sectors to continue scaling up the support for life saving work around the world. For more information about the Global Fund, visit www.theglobalfund.org.
About (RED) and (PRODUCT) RED:
(RED)’s primary objective is to engage the private sector in raising awareness and funds for the
Global Fund, to fight AIDS in Africa. Companies whose products take on the (PRODUCT) RED mark contribute a significant percentage of the sales or portion of the profits from that product to the Global Fund, to help finance AIDS programs in Africa, with an emphasis on the health of women and children. Current partners are: American Express (UK only), Apple, Converse, Gap, Giorgio Armani, Hallmark and Motorola. MySpace.com is the first media sponsor in the United Kingdom and MTV Networks is the first media sponsor in the US. For more information about (RED), visit www.joinred.com.
About The United Nations Foundation:
The mission of the United Nations Foundation is to promote a more peaceful, prosperous and just
world. The United Nations Foundation was created in 1998 with businessman and philanthropist Ted Turner’s historic $1 billion gift to support United Nations causes. Through grantmaking, and by building new and innovative public-private partnerships, the UN Foundation acts to meet the most pressing challenges of the 21st century. The UN Foundation also works to strengthen the US-UN relationship and broaden support for the UN through public education, advocacy and outreach.
